The Best Art and Antiques at London's Masterpiece Show

A 1918 work by British painter Robert Bevan at Masterpiece. Photo: Mitchell Owens

Bleary-eyed from an overnight flight but fueled by a double espresso, The Aesthete arrived early this morning at London's Heathrow Airport and raced to the city's historic Royal Hospital Chelsea to attend the press preview of Masterpiece, the fifth annual art-and-antiques fair that opens on June 26 and closes on July 2.

From the glories spread out before me and my fellow journalists, it is readily apparent that the organizers chose this upstart young show's name exceptionally well.

Booth upon booth is loaded with century-spanning eye candy, from the elegant to the extravagant: important jewels with supernova brilliance, magnificent paintings bearing serious signatures and head-spinning provenance, statement furniture demonstrating centuries of cabinetmaking prowess, and so much more. And that includes four chic temporary restaurants, one of which is a 56-table outpost of Le Caprice.

The price tags may be eye watering at times but the objects offer an incredible education for just the price of admission: £25, or a little more than $42. Each one is proof of mankind's boundless creativity and our eternal pursuit of the rare, the beautiful, and the unique.

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